Fallout: Liberty Nation
by Katie Dean
Summary: After the Sole Survivor sided with the Railroad and defeated the Institute, she finds that retiring as a hero to the Commonwealth is not going as she'd planned. Raising a ten year old synth boy in the heart of Diamond City with her journalist girlfriend is proving to be difficult. There are rumblings of unity among the settlements but not everyone wants to rebuild the Commonwealth.
1. Sole Survivor's Intro

They call me the Sole Survivor. On October 23, 2077, my family and I were ushered from our home in Sanctuary Hills to Vault 111. My husband and son were bundled into one decontamination chamber while I was taken to another. But that was just a cover. All of it. The husband and son. The decontamination chamber. None of it was real. My marriage was one of political necessary. My child was borne of one night of weakness with Nate and a woman whose name I chose not to learn. And the decontamination chamber put me into a cryogenically frozen state for 210 years.

If I've survived anything, it was a life of lies. The world I'd awoken to may not have been the one I'd have chosen but it was the only one in which I could be free. Seeing Nate in that frigid tomb along with all of my neighbors, me and Shaun the only two inhabitants that would escape it alive, was downright horrifying. The truth is, sometimes when I close my eyes at night, I see their peaceful faces. Other times, I see Nate's contorted in fear. Fear for me and Shaun. In either case, I wake up in a cold sweat and reach across the bed for comfort.

Fortunately, comfort is never far away. Piper Wright sleeps beside me nearly every night. When she feels me reaching for her, she turns over in her sleep and burrows into my arms. With her dark hair pressed firmly under my chin, all it takes is the gentle rhythm of her breathing against me to lull me back into slumber. It's the simple things in life, really.

Settling down in Diamond City had been Piper's idea and it was a good one. Her sister attended school and now that I had taken the ten year old synth version of my son from the Institute, it made sense to send him there as well. We haven't told Nat Shaun's a synth yet. As of right now, the only person who knows is Piper. I'm sure the secret is killing her but so far, she's agreed that despite the Institute having been shut down for good, the existence of synths still frighten most people. If Shaun is ever to have a chance at a real life, no one can ever know his origin.

It's been a few months since I teamed up with the Railroad, an underground organization dedicated to freeing the synths, to take down the Institute from the inside. Saying goodbye to my son before destroying everything he'd built... it was like losing him the first time. I owed it to his legacy, misguided as it was, to raise the synth boy with the same integrity the man he was modeled after had. Only this time, he would have his mother's hand to guide him.

They call me the Sole Survivor. Once, I was a wife, mother and lawyer. Now I'm a hero of the Commonwealth. And my story's not yet over.


	2. Chapter 1

"Blue!" It was Piper's voice that I first fell in love with. She had been locked out of Diamond City for writing an article that the former Mayor McDonough did not approve of. I encountered her yelling into an intercom and was hooked. Only Piper had suspected the truth and didn't back down even when the odds were against her. It's her tenacity I admire most. She'd have made a good lawyer.

She's calling to me from the first level of Publick Occurrences. I already know what this is about so I remain quiet upstairs. I can hear Codsworth down there giving Piper my itinerary for the the coming days. I haven't told her that I'm headed to the Castle right after dropping Nat and Shaun off at school. Things are complicated in Diamond City right now with McDonough out of the picture. Piper's been not so subtly hinting that the next mayor of the walled city might have 210 extra years' worth of life experience to bring to the table. It's flattering, but my responsibilities with the Railroad and the Minutemen keep me very busy.

As a matter of fact, it's the reason I'm headed to the Castle. It's about time I put the Minutemen back in the hands of the people. I was there in a time of crisis but I never sought this kind of leadership. Now that I have my son back, I just want to raise him in peace. Preston Garvey or Ronnie Shaw would be better suited for the role of general.

"Blue! We need to talk!"

I turn away from the dingy mirror after pulling my silver hair into a ponytail. Two centuries in cryostasis had somehow damaged the the pigmentation in my hair. I was self-conscious about it until I'd spent about a day in the Commonwealth wasteland. First, when you're trying to survive ghouls, super mutants and raiders, your hair is the last thing on your mind. Second, well, have you seen the way some people wear theirs? Yikes. Premature gray was the least of my worries. Finding clean clothes in the wasteland was perhaps the most of my worries. Oddly, dry-cleaning wasn't an industry that survived the apocalypse. I've managed to scavenge and buy some clean garments. For the journey, I'd decided on a pair of military fatigues and boots with a matching cap. Simple, comfortable, durable. It's a long walk to the Castle.

Light footsteps bounce up the stairs. My son's smiling face greets me as he approaches. This kid. I'd overcome the horrors of Vault 111, traipsed across a nightmare version of the Commonwealth I had loved and killed many people in an effort to find him. He is my entire life and if I had to do it all over again, from the loveless marriage all the way through destroying the misguided Institution he grew to create, I would choose it in a heartbeat. Our life here is one I could never have imagined in 2077. The losses we'd had to accept were heartbreaking, but the paradise we've carved out for ourselves here in Diamond City somehow made it right.

"Piper's gonna blow a gasket if you don't come downstairs," Shaun informs me even as he's wrapping his arms around my waist. We hug and I'm once again reminded of the advances in technology that made this hug possible. To feel him in my arms, I would never guess in a million years that my son is a synthetic boy. He is warm and full of life. It's hard to imagine that this is the result of decades' worth of science. He passes as human. His teachers, peers and neighbors don't suspect a thing. Why would they? None of us would ever give them a reason to.

"I know, kiddo." I give Shaun's hair a tussle. "I'm gonna be out of town for a few days. You be good for Nat and Piper, okay?"

Shaun frowns and rolls his eyes. "Nat's barely older than me."

"Them's the breaks," I tell him as sympathetically as I can. "Go on to class now. I'll be home before you know it."

Shaun's frown is already gone as he heads back downstairs. "Bye, Mom! See you later!"

He is a good, sweet, thoughtful boy. I love him so much.

But now, it's time to settle things down with the other love of my life.

I descend into the main area of Publick Occurrences. Nat and Shaun are out the door and Piper, beautiful, sweet Piper, is standing before me, hands on her hips. "Hello, my love."

"Don't you ' _hello, my love_ ' me, Blue." The tone in her voice is a warning. No more sweet talk. "You're _walking_ to the Castle?"

I blink. That was not what I was expecting. "Yes?"

Piper reached up and rubbed her temples with the index and middles fingers of both hands. "You're famous now! And you made powerful enemies with any Institute survivors or Brotherhood of Steel remnants. You can't just walk across the Commonwealth like some kind of rube! What are you thinking?"

"Piper, I've left Diamond City before," I tell her, still not understanding the problem. "I've proven to be far more capable than most out there."

Piper was quiet a moment. She looked down at the ground, shaking her head, before saying, "You've just been here so long... I sorta thought we were settling down, you know? If something happened to you out there..."

Sweet, silly, insecure Piper. I lift a hand to touch her cheek and she looks up at me. She smiles shyly just before I give her a soft kiss. "Pipes, settling down with you is only thing that I want. Trust me, I'm just going to relieve myself of my Minutemen responsibilities. Then it's me, you and the kids."

"Leave the Minutemen?" Piper gasps. It only occurs to me now that this perhaps should have been a conversation we'd had earlier. She's pushed way from me and is taking a step back. "You can't. They were practically dead before you found them. And all the settlements they protect, Blue, it's all because of you."

I'm at a loss for words. I look at her and can tell she's genuinely conflicted. The truth is, so am I. I know I've done good things for the Commonwealth but it can't be anything anyone else could have done. I was just looking for my son and found myself getting involved in every major crisis in the wasteland. I never wanted to be a hero.

"What do you think I should do?" I finally ask.

Piper shrugs. "I dunno. I just want you to be safe. But I don't want the Commonwealth to go back to the lawless hellhole it was before you showed up."

At that, I smile. There's my girl. Piper knows that the greater good requires some sacrifices. Maybe we can find a way to keep our little family together and still make a difference. I close the distance between us and wrap my arms around the Diamond City journalist. "We'll find a way, Piper. I promise."

Piper leaned hard into my hug. "I know we will, Blue. But, until then, will you at least take someone with you? As back-up?"

"How about I see if Deacon is up for an adventure then?"


	3. Chapter 2

"The old ball and chain needed the savior of the Commonwealth to hire an escort, eh?"

Deacon's kind of an asshole. I try to remember that he's had it tougher than most, but sometimes, he takes it just a bit too far. "Don't say that about Piper, please."

The man's lopsided grin faded. "Sorry, Wanderer," he apologized, using my Railroad alias. It's meant to show his respect to me. I led the Railroad in a massive synth escape from the Institute. The Commonwealth had never felt collectively safer since the explosion at C.I.T. It was now a kind of honorific for the Railroad. "So, uh, got a big Minuteman meeting?"

I nod but shrug. "It's definitely not the meeting I thought I'd be having when I woke up today." After a moment, I ask, "What do you think about unifying the Commonwealth?"

Deacon laughs hard, only to cut himself off when he sees that I'm not laughing with him. The laugh dissolves into a cough and he pounds his chest with his fist. "Seriously? Man, I know you're General of those guys, but you're not really buying into their crazy idea of trying to _govern_ this God-forsaken wasteland, are you?"

"What's so crazy about unification, Deacon?" I ask. We've got four hours to wax philosophic, after all. And chances are, he's got an opinion on the matter.

Boy, does he.

Deacon has decided to go for the "dirty wastelander" disguise today. His Brahmin skin shirt really stinks of Brahmin shit. It's disgusting but Deacon is very dedicated to his disguises. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to notice me inching away from him while he talks. It's going to be a nightmare trying to wash this stench off. I miss 21st century showers.

"Look, what has gathering large groups of people and trying to tell them to do anything ever gotten the world?" Deacon waved his arms wildly. "We live in a literal hell. You know more than anyone alive what was lost." I try to hide my surprise at this reasoning. It's like he was reading my mind. "What possible good can come from trying to herd these sheep into one pen?"

"Sheep?"

Deacon chuckles and shakes his head. "The people of the Commonwealth are helpless, dumb animals. And the Minutemen are reactionaries. They respond to problems, not prevent them."

"What about the Railroad? I agree that the Minutemen lack some organization, but maybe with some assistance from the Railroad..." I trail off when I see Deacon shaking his head again.

"You know, I love the Railroad. It's given me purpose when I didn't think I had anything to live for," Deacon says, his voice soft with some memory washing over him. He's looking off in the distance at the ruined landscape. It's a beautiful late morning and the walk is actually pretty pleasant. But Deacon doesn't see any of that through those ever-present sunglasses. He clears his throat and continues, "but do you really think the Commonwealth can trust an organization that's been so shrouded in secrecy?"

Now it's my turn to shake my head. "The Railroad's no Institute."

"No, I'm not saying that," Deacon replies. "But the cloak and dagger stuff, that's our thing. There's no way we'd be able to lead, even if we wanted-"

Deacon freezes and his hand hovers at the breast of his jacket. I follow his cue and reach for the Deliverer at my hip. Deacon had given it to me some time ago, when I was still just beginning to help the Railroad out. It's my favorite weapon, if I have to use one at all. I'd rather talk my way out of a conflict, ever the recovering lawyer, but I'd come to adapt to the Commonwealth's way of handling things.

A few heartbeats later, I finally hear what Deacon does. A low growl and a rustle to my right tells me there's some animal headed toward us. My gun's barely raised when a vicious dog launches from the bushes. His yellow teeth gnash as he takes a silent 10mm to the brain. He's down and Deacon is shooting down one more of his pack. They're barking now, yowling from all around. They must have surrounded us while we were talking. I can only blame myself as three more dogs rush from their hiding places behind Corvega remains and the rubble of an old gas station. I spend way too much time focusing on my companion than my surroundings.

"Keep your head in the game, Wanderer!" Deacon snaps as he puts a bullet in the mutt right behind me. "They're fucking everywhere!"

The Deliverer is silent as it puts down two more of the curs. Behind me, Deacon is shooting down the last, a big mean looking dog that looks like he's been stuffed in a barrel full of radiation for 200 years. The mongrel explodes in a storm of blood and visceral. I have to look away or I'll throw up.

Deacon gives me a pat on the shoulder. "Maybe we should have this conversation later?"

I sigh and holster the Deliverer. "You're probably right, Deacon." I got what I wanted out of him anyway. Not everyone, even the people in my inner circle, can see the value of unification.


	4. Chapter 3

I love the Castle. It's nice and quiet. And only inhabited by the Minutemen. It's one of the safest places in the Commonwealth. I'd thought to settle out here with Shaun once. There are worse role models a boy could have than a group of people dedicated to protecting the settlers just trying to get by out there. This was the reason that my son's... that _Father's_ goals for the Commonwealth couldn't work. You can't do anything for humanity by hiding away from it. Being among the people, that was the way to remake a nation.

 _Oh my God, Preston is getting into my head._ I've been set up in the General's quarters, where they always stick me when I'm here. I've been trying to turn things over to Preston Garvey for a little while now but he's resisted, despite me deciding to live in Diamond City. As much as I love the relative solitude of the Castle, Shaun's too brilliant a kid to live so far from any kind of school. And I'm too nuts for a certain plucky reporter to live so far away from Piper Wright. But the room is nice and it's always a pleasure to sleep in a real bed. I put my hands behind my head on the pillow and stare up at the ceiling. It's been a long day of meetings and now I need to make a decision.

Preston handles the day to day of running the Minutemen, with Ronnie Shaw advising him. The Castle houses the main force of Minutemen and dispatches squads to the settlements as needed. It's a good system. I'm proud of them. When I first met Preston, the Minutemen were all but falling apart. Now they're a thriving force in the wasteland.

Which is why this unification idea maybe wasn't as crazy as Deacon thinks it is. We have a network all over the Commonwealth. We have a communication system that gets help to people in, well, a minute. Give or take. How hard would it be to get something resembling law across the wasteland? Organize caravans to get supplies to people who need it most? Establish order.

If people genuinely want it. I can't just bring a militia into people's homes and tell them we're the new order. We govern by the people for the people.

We. God dammit it. I'm really going to do it. I'm going to try to unify this wasteland.

* * *

Preston is already awake when I walk out into the yard. There are rows of Minutemen doing drills, caravaners haggling supply prices with our Quartermaster, and Deacon harassing the man at the radio to let him go on the air. I raise an eyebrow at my companion and he gives me a sheepish grin. He steps away from the radio tower to fall into step beside me as I approach Preston.

"Morning, General," Preston greets me. We walk away from the drilling Minutemen for a few steps before he adds, "I hope you took some time to think about our proposal. Unification is a big job and it would be a lot easier if we had someone as respected as you supporting it."

I give Deacon as apologetic smile as I can muster. He shrugs and tilts his head. He's always known what my answer is going to be. "This could be the greatest thing the Commonwealth has ever had. If we can connect the dots of settlements all over this wasteland, create a larger force of cooperation against raiders, super mutants, or radiated monsters, we might be able to carve out a truly safe place here. Something like I left behind 200 years ago."

"It's a beautiful speech, Wanderer," Deacon says. "But it's a lot more complicated than that. Out west, they're trying to make their own government. And it ain't working out so well, if intel from the Brotherhood is anything to be believed. What makes this any different?"

I shrug. "Nothing? Everything?"

"Do you think it's better not to try?" Preston asked Deacon. The two men couldn't be any more different. Preston wears his identity proudly, his Minutemen uniform declaring his allegiance to anyone he meets. On the other hand, Deacon is a man of closely guarded secrets hidden behind a wall of sarcasm. He disguises himself from the world. I'm not sure I know what he genuinely looks like. Neither man backs down as they lock eyes, Preston challenging everything Deacon projects himself to be. "Would the Railroad have succeeded in freeing all those synths if you had simply not tried?"

Deacon and I both grimace and glance around to make sure no one's overheard. It's not common knowledge that, before the fall of the Institute, the Railroad managed to get nearly every synth safely out. They are still working on securing identities and finding them homes outside of the Commonwealth. Distrust for synths still runs high in the Commonwealth; they have a better chance of survival somewhere that's never even heard of synths.

Preston watches us, waiting patiently for what he considers to be very paranoid behavior to end. Normally, when it comes to Deacon, I would agree with him, but when it comes to synth-human relations, you can never be too careful.

"In the grand scheme of things," Deacon finally replies, "what we did is nothing compared to what trying to get the Commonwealth to band together. You think the Diamond City snobs think they have any common purpose with the ghouls at Goodneighbor? Or all your little dirt farm settlements are going to spare resources they need for themselves? It's crazy. It's too big."

"Taking down the Institute was too big, Deacon," I remind my friend gently. I put a hand on his shoulder and give a squeeze. "And we did it anyway. We went into it thinking we would fail. How is that any different than this?"

Deacon sighs. I haven't convinced him but he knows that I'm determined. My determination has already changed the face of the Commonwealth. It might just do it again. "Let me guess: you need me to talk to Desdemona about all this."

"That's right." My hand drops from his shoulder. "We'll either need the Railroad's support or tolerance while we do this. I'd rather have you on board, so don't talk it down too much."

"We plan to gather as many local leaders to the Castle for a meeting to discuss the possibilities of unification," Preston tells Deacon. "We'll meet here in a month to declare our intentions and to get a general feel of the idea."

Deacon looks at me, his eyebrows rising over his sunglasses. "You wanna be that open about it?"

"I think transparency is key to this being successful. No secrets from potential allies," I answer.

Deacon shakes his head. "No secrets from potentials enemies, either."


	5. Chapter 4

I stay at the Castle for for a few more days, working out some details with Preston. There are going to be a lot of questions in a month and we try to prepare for them as best we we can. It's a lot of work. Creating a government from scratch is no easy task. I was a lawyer, back before the War, so I'm confident in my ability to draft the documents that will turn this wasteland into a nation but I'm still an outsider here. I haven't lived in this lawless land my whole life.

It turns out, I happen know a very talented writer who not only has grown up in this version of the Commonwealth but also has a passion for doing the right thing. Not that I never need an excuse to, but I'm happy to get to go home to Piper, Shaun and Nat.

Preston joins me on the journey back to Diamond City after sending messengers across the Commonwealth to get the word out. Our message of unification is being broadcast on Radio Freedom, so anyone listening in to that channel also know about it. Before leaving the Castle, I assigned extra security to fend off any kind of strike from raiders, super mutants or anyone else threatened by unity. The danger in taking this public means we're exposed to those negative forces. Fortunately, the Castle is one of the most fortified places in the Commonwealth and filled with trained militiamen. With the Minutemen on high alert and armed with artillery, I'm confident it'll hold till I get back.

The return trip is uneventful, an unlikely miracle. Though, is it? The Minutemen keep the Commonwealth safe. With the Institute and Brotherhood all but eliminated from the scene, we've been able to clean up the wasteland. Raiders have been _encouraged_ to settle down or get out. The Railroad works on relocating the synths we freed but has hardly any formal resistance anymore. People are still suspicious of the Gen 3 synths. But if there's anything I've learned since throwing in with the Railroad and working with Nick Valentine, it was the Institute that generated this fear. We're the ones that have to fight that prejudice.

"Nora!" I smile as Nat, ever present at the Diamond City entrance, races toward me. "Is it true? What they're saying on Radio Freedom?"

There's an issue of _Publick Occurrences_ in Nat's hand. I sigh. "Has Piper already reported on the unification announcement?"

Nat nods and hands me the paper. The headline is... definitely not what I was expecting.

 **DIAMOND CITY TO HOLD MAYORAL ELECTION**

Oh God. For the first time, I notice just how quiet it is in town. Usually, by mid-afternoon, Diamond City is bustling with activity. And while that's still the case, it occurs to me that everyone is quietly watching me. They murmur to one another and go about their business, but I'm the topic of conversation across the whole town. Well, probably not me specifically. Maybe me, but probably not. This has to do with unification. Yes, I appear to be at the center of that, but it's all about the people. Not me.

Preston takes the paper and reads it quietly to himself, his brow furrowed. "Oh no. Piper."

"Where's Piper?" I ask Nat, who looks anxious to get away from me. She can feel the attention on us, too. The dark-haired girl, the spitting image of her older sister, is inching her way back toward Publick Occurrences. "C'mon, Nat. Don't take off. Where's Piper?"

"She's working on the story, Nora," Nat replies. She gives a shrug and rolls her eyes. "You know she doesn't always tell me where she's going. To protect me." Nat spat into the dirt. "Truth is, I'd be safer if she _did_ tell me. Then I could roll on her before the thugs could torture me needlessly."

I laugh, the sound unexpected. It seems to break the spell and the citizens of Diamond City go about their day. Now it feels a little more normal. Nat looks more at ease and laughs with me. "You would never roll, kid."

Nat raises an eyebrow at me with a conspiratorial grin. "Maybe not on Piper. But you? I'd roll in a second."

Well, there's not much I can do about Piper until she gets back. "Well, okay. But before then, how about I buy you and Shaun some noodles, huh?"

Nat looks as though she's considering. "All right. But it doesn't help your chances any."

"I understand completely."

* * *

The kids and I are sitting at Takahashi's when a pair of arms captures the three of us from behind. Shaun looks up at Piper with a smile. I can see him out of the corner of my eye and I can't help the pride I feel. He's a good boy. He admires Piper and I'm so glad. I'm sure he has a lot of questions he hasn't asked us yet, particularly about his father, but for now, his acceptance of my love for the Diamond City reporter is enough. Our little family is not what I imagined my life would lead to, but it is it enough.

"How about you guys finish up dinner here and then head over to help Abbott clean up from his work on the Wall?" Piper suggests. She gives me a kiss on the cheek. "Blue and I have a lot to talk about."

Preston, who'd been having dinner a polite distance from me and the kids, rises from his stool. He is walking toward us as Nat whines, "Piper, I want to know about the unification!"

"You can read about it in the morning edition, Nat," Piper replies. She shrugs. "Plus, I don't know anything unless Blue spills her guts. But don't worry." She gives me a wink. "I'm good at interrogations."

I grin. It's been so many days since I've seen her and Piper is a sight for sore eyes. "Shall we take this to Home Plate?"

Preston clears his throat. Piper is draping her arms over my shoulders. She looks at him. "Why don't you take up a room over at the Dugout? We can talk about this unification business in the morning."


	6. Lovers' Interlude

Piper's breath is hot on my ear as she whispers that she loves me. Her dark hair is splayed across the pillow of our bed and my fingers are entwined in it as I support her head. I lean in for a kiss and it's all sugar and nicotine, a sweet flavor that I've grown to love since meeting my beautiful reporter. She's holding a blanket over my shoulders as I hold myself above her with my free hand. Our eyes meet and I'm once again struck with awe at how I could have become so lucky. I was put into stasis by Vault-Tec until it was time to meet the love of my life.

"You with me, Blue?" Piper asks, her breath catching, her hips rising to meet mine.

We kiss again and I sigh as I lower myself into her warmth. "Always, Piper."

* * *

Piper curls up in my arms, starting to fall asleep. She clings to my t-shirt and buries her face into my neck. Her freshly stubbed out cigarette smokes lightly and it drifts up toward the ceiling. I watch it while I lazily stroke her back. Nat and Sean are sleeping in their own rooms. One of the nice things about me owning Home Plate and Piper owning Publick Occurrences is that we have options. It's tighter at the press and I'd love the Wrights to move in permanently with me and Shaun. But those girls, God love them, are independent women. And I admire them so much for it. I'd built this place for them but I can't push them into something they don't want.

"Blue?" Piper's voice is thick with sleep. She's nearly nodded off entirely.

"Yeah, Pipes?"

Piper yawns and slurs, "I want you to run for mayor of Diamond City."


	7. Chapter 5

The radio in the Dugout Inn is playing Travis Miles' news broadcast. All day, people had been talking about unification and the announcement of a formal mayoral election. I couldn't get anywhere in Diamond City without someone offering me their opinion on either matter. It was exhausting. I did my best not to engage in these types of conversations any more than I had to. I like people to come to their own conclusions about things.

"You know who'd make a good mayor?" Vadim Bobrov is telling some trader loudly. He's speaking over the radio while simultaneous pounding it with a meaty fist. "Our boy Travis. He's smart and charismatic. Everybody loves him now. And we trust him. He tells us everything we need to know."

I roll my eyes. I can't help it. I helped turn him into the smooth talking radio man he is today. Piper's been delivering the news Diamond City needs to know for a long time but no one respects her the way they do Travis. No one would nominate Piper for mayor under that logic. I bristle with the double standard but though my fingers clench around the neck of my beer bottle, I say nothing. It's not the fight I want to pick tonight.

"Would he side for unification, though?" the traveler is asking. "Diamond City is one of the safest places in the Commonwealth. You really wanna stretch your resources for some Podunk little town in the Cape?"

Vadim shrugs and wipes the bar with a towel. Tossing the rag over his shoulder, he says, "If the Minutemen are announcing the unification, you can bet they'll watch out for everyone."

"And who pays for their operations? They offer their services to us and what? We shake hands and go on our merry ways?"

"That's what Travis and the other local leaders gotta figure out," Vadim answers uncomfortably. He doesn't have all the answers. And how could he? No one knows what this might mean. Piper told me that the Commonwealth had tried to unify once, but the Institute's first Gen 3 synths, according to her, killed everyone in attendance of the first meeting. The Commonwealth Provisional Government was destroyed before it could ever be born. Everyone was afraid what another attempt might bring. This hits even closer to home here.

I can feel eyes on me again. I excuse myself, throw my caps down and exit the Dugout Inn.

Diamond City is beautiful at sunset. The purple sky casts a shadow on the walled city that makes me, for just a moment, remember baseball games at this stadium. I can close my ears and almost hear the roar of the crowd. The world was going to hell but we had good old American baseball to keep our spirits up. And over 200 years into the future, it's nice that it still represents something that makes people feel like home.

Everyone has shut down for the night except for Percy barking over at the Surplus. I can hear him as I turn the corner to head toward Nick's place. I mostly drown him out, except he's got a new hook. "What will it take to prepare for another Broken Mask? Stock up tonight at Diamond City Surplus!"

Dammit.

I round the corner and head down the alley to Valentine's Detective Agency. Aside from Publick Occurrences, it's one of the places I feel the most secure. Nick Valentine and Ellie Perkins were some of the first people to help me find Shaun. They're my best friends. I trust them with everything. And I trust them to help me make the best decisions I can in a world that is still so new to me.

Ellie looks up from her desk when I enter the office. She smiles and nods toward the shabby couch, where Piper is already sitting. Nick is at his own desk but turns to acknowledge my arrival. "The gang's all here, then."

"Okay then," Piper says, taking charge. Even as I sit down on the couch beside her, she is sitting up and stubbing out a cigarette in the ashtray. "Unification. This is huge. No one's tried this since the Institute destroyed the Commonwealth Provisional Government. But with you, Blue," she turns her pretty eyes on me for a moment, smiling. I can't help but feel the pride well up in my chest. She has such faith in me. I never want to let her down. She continues, "but with you, everything's different."

"I'm worried that, forgive me Nick," Ellie cast an apologetic glance Nick's way, "just because we have Nora and the Institute is out of the picture, there's still the fear that a synth can infiltrate the unification talks."

I shake my head at that. "I'm not worried about that. I want to invite synths to the conversation."

Ellie, Nick and Piper stare at me for a long time without saying anything. It strikes me as odd that this wouldn't be a consideration. "What?"

"People aren't going to like that very much," Nick says warily. "Sure, it was the Institute that made us synths but the stigma still lies with us. We're hard to trust."

"You're not hard to trust, Nick," I insist. I take a breath and drop a bomb on my nearest and dearest. "I think you should run for Mayor of Diamond City."

"Whoa, Nora. That's... Diamond City won't..." Ellie stammers. "After the Broken Mask Incident, there's no way anyone would vote for a synth, even one as well liked as Nick."

Nick nods slowly, maybe sadly. It's hard to tell with him sometimes. "It's one thing for me to solve a couple of mysteries, save some kidnapped citizens... but leading Diamond City? It's unheard of here."

"But isn't that what we're trying to change, Nick?" I argue. I've always been good at arguing. "Think about it: true unification. We're all people, regardless of how we look. If we can show the Commonwealth that it's diverse leaders can come together for the greater good."

Piper has been quiet. She's looking at me and I can tell she has something to say. I put a hand on her knee and I'm surprised when she scoots away from me on the couch. "Pipes..."

She shakes her head at me. "I've already told you what I think. You just made it pretty clear that you're not that interested in what I think you should do."

Nick and Ellie shift uncomfortably. I can tell this conversation is getting away from me. I need these people on my side, Piper most of all. "Piper, I'm not mayor material."

"If not you, who?"

"Nick," I answer patiently. "If we're going to be a model for a new Commonwealth, we need to be better than the base fears of the common people. We need to show them that we can trust synths. And ghouls. We all live together and we have to work together to keep the raiders and super mutants at bay."

I focus all of my attention on Piper, who is clearly hurt that I won't consider myself a candidate for mayor. "I'm not abandoning this. But we're a team and I can't always be team captain."

"It's a moot point," Nick replies. "I'm not running for mayor. I get what you're trying to do, Nora, but it's far too soon to hope that people will be ready to accept a synth as mayor."

I can feel it slipping away. I can't let it. "Maybe too soon for a 3rd generation synth, someone who doesn't wear their status like you do. But you're already a trusted member of the community-"

"I don't want to represent the damned synths!" Nick snaps. "You think I want to be some token synth, paraded around like some beacon of the future? I've worked too damned hard to become some figurehead. I've got a good gig here. I do good things for this community. What am I going to do as mayor?"

It's Ellie who answers, slowly and thoughtfully, "Maybe organize Diamond City security to actually protect people. We know it was McDonough, under orders from the Institute, who was keeping them from investigating missing people, but now they're just sticking to their routine of patrolling the Wall. But with your detective skills, you could turn these guys into a real police force."

I could kiss Ellie right then. Nick appears to be mulling it over. "That's exactly it. No one's asking you to represent all the synths. Just be you and you'll make this town the safest it's ever been. And that's what we really want."

"Let me think about it," Nick says slowly. "Don't do anything without talking to me first."

"That's all I ask, Nick. Thank you."

Nick's yellow eyes fall on Piper. "I think you both have some talking to do. Maybe we should call it a night and start this again in the morning."

Piper stands stiffly and stalks toward the door. I sigh and remain a moment longer. Once she's gone, I stand and reach a hand out to Nick. He takes it and we shake firmly. "I have faith in you, Nick. And I think Diamond City does, too."

"Ah, go on," Nick waves me toward the door. "For the record, I think Piper might be right on this one. It should be you."

"Give me some time to convince you. And her. I promise, I have this all worked out in my head."


End file.
